Chapter 19 - The ultimate sacrifice
"You do not know the first thing about family, Victor," I spat furiously, holding the tablet up in the air. "You murdered my mother, you abandoned me, and now you want to butcher my daughter to save your own pathetic life." Victor’s eyes narrowed into angry, dangerous slits. "Take the girl, kill the mother," he ordered his mercenaries coldly. The armed men immediately raised their rifles, stepping closer. Suddenly, a deafening gunshot echoed through the concrete underpass. The mercenary closest to Lila dropped straight to the ground. I spun around to see Julian, stumbling out of the wrecked sedan, blood pouring down his face. He held his silver pistol with both hands, aiming directly at Victor’s chest. "It ends today, Father," Julian shouted, his voice echoing powerfully. "Put the gun down, Julian, you are outnumbered fifty to one," Victor scoffed, completely unfazed.
"I don't need to kill you, I just need to stall you," Julian smiled weakly. He looked at me, his eyes filled with absolute desperation and love. "Rowan, hit the send button on the tablet right now!" he screamed. Victor’s eyes widened in sudden, genuine panic. "Stop her!" he roared. But I had already tapped the glowing blue icon on the screen. The master ledger, containing decades of irrefutable evidence of Victor's horrific crimes, was instantly transmitted directly to the servers of the FBI, the CIA, and every major news outlet in the country. It was completely irreversible. "No!" Victor screamed, raising his own weapon. Gunfire erupted from every direction. Julian dove directly in front of us, taking two heavy bullets to the chest to shield Lila and me from the crossfire. I dragged Lila behind the thick concrete bridge pillar just as the distant, blaring sound of heavily armed police sirens completely flooded the morning air. Dozens of federal tactical vehicles aggressively swarmed the underpass, cutting off every possible escape route for Victor and his remaining men.
